Wednesday, February 25, 2009

peripatetic -- just a ramblin' kind of word

peripatetic (per-uh-puh-TET-ik)adjective: 1. Moving or traveling from place to place. 2. Of or related to walking, moving, or traveling. 3. Of or related to Aristotle: his philosophy or his teaching method of conducting discussions while walking about.

noun: 1. An itinerant 2. A follower of Aristotle.

From Latin peripateticus, from Greek peripatetikos, from peripatein (to walk about, to discourse while pacing as did Aristotle), from peri- (around) + patein (to walk). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pent- (to tread) that also gave us words such as English find, Dutch pad (path), Hindi path (path), French pont (bridge), and Russian sputnik (traveling companion).

USAGE: "With his back to goal in a crowded space, the peripatetic Frenchman [Nicolas Anelka] deftly chipped the ball over his shoulder, and into the net for the equalizer."Rob Hughes; Michel Platini Set to Make Plea to Cut Influence of Money in UEFA; International Herald Tribune (Paris, France); Feb 15, 2009.